A recent gift to the U in honor of Nobel-prize winning scientist Mario Capecchi establishes two $1 million faculty positions, allowing the U to recruit young scientists to work close to Capecchi.
Spencer F. Eccles, chairman and chief executive officer of the George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation, recently announced the award that will help the U in bringing in new, young researchers establishing their careers.
“It’s an attractive tool in competing with other universities,” Capecchi said. “When you achieve excellence, you have to maintain excellence.”
The endowed chairs are in genetics and biology and will rotate to accommodate two untenured scientists to work alongside Capecchi for three-year periods. Endowed chairs are usually awarded to tenured faculty, making the gift unique.
“It will be a wonderful recruiting tool to attract the best and brightest folks we can,” said Ray Gesteland, a genetic researcher and the former vice president for research. “It will make us even more competitive. Having a Nobel Prize winner is good, but having this makes us even more apt to compete with other universities.”
The foundation has donated millions to research programs at the U.
“The Eccles Foundation has always shown a serious commitment to the U,” Capecchi said. “This gift is another example of their generosity and support for the university.”
Capecchi and two other scientists won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine last year for their research in gene-targeting mice, which has led to the creation of animal models for hundreds of human diseases.